2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
A. N. Ostrovsky is not just a writer-playwright. He is rightfully considered the father of Russian drama. After all, before him in the literature of the 19th century, theatrical art developed very poorly. Ostrovsky's plays were new, fresh and interesting. It was thanks to this author that people again reached out to theaters. One of the most famous plays is "Thunderstorm".
History of Creation
A. N. Ostrovsky was sent on a special mission to central Russia. Here the writer was able to see provincial life in all its glory. Like any other writer, in the first place, Ostrovsky paid attention to the life and life of the Russian merchants, petty bourgeois, noble people of the province. He was looking for characters and plots. As a result of the trip, the play "Thunderstorm" was written. And a little while later, in one of the cities on the Volga, a similar incident occurred. Ostrovsky was able to predict the events that took place in the future. The characterization of the play "Thunderstorm" as a holistic work shows that the author is not just an insightful person, but also a talented writer-playwright.
Artistic originality of the drama
The play has a number of artisticfeatures. It should be said that Ostrovsky was at the same time a novelist in dramaturgy and supported the tradition. To understand, it is necessary to analyze the genre, the main characters, the conflict and the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm".
Genre
There are three dramatic genres: comedy, tragedy and drama. Of these, the oldest is tragedy, followed by comedy, but drama as a genre appears only in the 19th century. Its founder in Russia was A. N. Ostrovsky. The play "Thunderstorm" is fully consistent with its canons. In the center of the image are ordinary people, not historical figures, not folk heroes. These are people with their own shortcomings and virtues, in whose souls feelings, affections, likes and dislikes develop. The situation is also common. However, there is an acute life conflict in it, most often unresolvable. Katerina (the main character of the drama) finds herself in a life situation from which there is no way out. The meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" is multifaceted (this will be discussed below), one of the interpretation options is the inevitability of something, the predestination and tragedy of the situation.
Main characters
The main characters of the play: Kabanikha, her son Tikhon, Katerina (Kabanova's daughter-in-law), Boris (her lover), Varvara (Tikhon's sister), Wild, Kuligin. There are other characters, each of which has its own meaning.
Kabanikha and Dikoy personify everything negative that is in the city of Kalinovo. This is arrogance, malice, tyranny, the desire to lead everyone, greed. Tikhon Kabanov - exampleresigned worship of the mother, he is spineless and stupid. Barbara is not like that. She understands that her mother is wrong in many ways. She, too, wants to free herself from her pressure, and she does it in her own way: she simply deceives her. But such a path is impossible for Katerina. She cannot lie to her husband, cheating for her is a big sin. Katerina, against the background of others, looks more thinking, feeling and alive. Only one hero stands aside - Kuligin. He plays the role of a reasoning hero, that is, a character into whose mouth the author puts his attitude to the situation.
The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm"
The symbolic title is one of the ways to express the ideological intent of the work. One word has a huge meaning, it is multilayered.
Firstly, a thunderstorm occurs twice in the city of Kalinovo. Each character reacts differently. Kuligin, for example, sees physical phenomena in a thunderstorm, so it does not cause much fear in him. Of course, the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is not only that this phenomenon is present in the text. The symbol of a thunderstorm is closely connected with the main character - Katerina. For the first time, this natural phenomenon catches the heroine on the street when she is talking to Varvara. Katerina was very frightened, but not of death. Her horror is justified by the fact that lightning can kill suddenly, and she will suddenly appear before God with all her sins. But she has one gravest sin - falling in love with Boris. Education, conscience do not allow Katerina to completely surrender to this feeling. Going on a date, she begins to experience great torment. The heroine also makes a confession during a thunderstorm. Hearing a thunderclap, she breaks down.
The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky depends on the level of interpretation. On a formal level, this is the beginning and climax of the drama. But on a symbolic level, this is the fear of the punishment of the Lord, retribution.
It can be said that a "thunderstorm" hung over all the inhabitants of the city. Outwardly, these are the attacks of Kabanikh and Dikiy, but on the existential level, this is the fear of answering for one's sins. Perhaps that is why she causes horror not only in Katerina. Even the word "thunderstorm" is pronounced in the text not only as the name of a natural phenomenon. Tikhon leaves home, rejoicing that his mother will no longer bother him, that she will no longer order him. Katerina is not able to get away from this "thunderstorm". She was cornered.
Image of Katerina
The heroine commits suicide, and because of this, her image is very contradictory. She is pious, she is afraid of "gehena fiery", but at the same time she commits such a grave sin. Why? Apparently, moral suffering, moral torment is stronger than her thoughts about hell. Most likely, she simply stopped thinking about suicide as a sin, seeing in it a punishment for her sin (betrayal to her husband). Some of the critics see in her an exceptionally strong personality who challenged society, the "dark kingdom" (Dobrolyubov). Others believe that voluntary death is not a challenge, but, on the contrary, a sign of weakness.
How to regard this act of the heroine, one definitivelycannot be said. The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" emphasizes that in the society that has developed in Kalinov, such cases are not surprising, because it is a ossified, backward city, it is ruled by petty tyrants, such as Dikoi and Kabanikha. As a result, sensitive natures (Katerina) suffer without feeling support from anyone.
Conclusions. Features and meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" (briefly)
1. The drama has become a vivid example of the life of provincial cities, exposing one of the main problems of Russia - tyranny.
2. The drama corresponds to the canons of the genre (there is a reasoning hero, there are negative characters), but at the same time it is innovative (it is symbolic).
3. The "thunderstorm" in the title of the play is not just a compositional element, it is a symbol of God's punishment, repentance. The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky brings the play to a symbolic level.
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